Anti-tax: Is this fat tax an effective way to address the obesity issue?

The average person consumes 120 calories more per day from sugary drinks today than three decades ago. That being said, one might think a tax on soda would help cut down on increasing obesity in the U.S. Would a tax really make a difference though? I doubt it.

Taxes do reduce demand, there’s no doubt about that. However, the fat taxes that are being proposed would not pertain to all sugary foods. In fact, Gatorade, lemonade, other juice fruits, and chocolate milk all have many calories as well. If a person wanted to get a sugar fix, he would not have to get it from soda. The tax would reduce soda sales but would do nothing to reduce obesity, since soda is not the only cause.

“Fat taxes” have been trialed in many states, but most have repealed them. In the states that did keep these taxes, however, there still was no noticeable difference in the obesity of their citizens.

Having a tax on soda seems like a good idea, but unfortunately there are a lot more components to weight problems than carbonated beverages. These taxes would most likely not yield the results they were intended for.